Minjok in YMCA Baseball Team

I know I probably shouldn't be comparing the two, but YMCA Baseball Team was a breath of fresh compared to Blue Swallow air in terms of technical quality and overall plot. Personally the movie had a stronger sense of nationalism. There wasn't the same ambiguity that I associated with Blue Swallow. The sense of nationalism is stronger and more apparent, especially because of the final match between the Japanese troops and the beloved YMCA Koreans.
Considering Henry Em's article, there are many moments where Koreans stood as a united nation. Moments that were more 'new', that which was not done before, as was the case for 'minjok'. Minjok, as describe by Em, is a modern concept that did not emerge until around the time of Japanese occupation of Korea. Therefore, one of the first times that the Korean team stood up as a unified nation was when they came together as a force to be reckoned with, when they were an undefeated baseball team with people that came from a variety of backgrounds. Another moment was when the literate character chose to accept the baseball bat from the teammate of whom the literate teammate thought was of lower class, and with whom he tried to eliminate any associations. By letting down his guard about class and social rankings, the team was able to move on and continue to fight in their match against the Japanese. A third moment that demonstrated a unified Korea was when Kwangtae chose to move beyond what Daehyun did to his father, in order to help Daehyun and Jungrim escape for 'the greater good' for lack of better words. Not only that, it was a team effort. The escape was something put together elaborately by the whole team. The team managed not only to defeat the Japanese baseball team, but also helped the two escape. It goes to show how important minjok is to Koreans. Though it is a modern concept, minjok is a feeling that resonates deeply with Koreans. Unified Koreans, not only in terms of the Koreas, but also in terms of history, is something that drives Koreans to make sure that they aren't just known an people who were occupied by the Japanese. I think what is important to get out of this film is that through minjok Koreans fought to make themselves known.